Pakistan: Gurdwara Tibba Nanaksar Ji in state of acute disrepair

The Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), the government body responsible for the maintenance of shrines of minority communities and the PSGPC, the apex body of Sikhs in Pakistan fails to maintain historic Sikh shrines in Pakistan.

The sacred Gurdwara, located at a distance of about six km from Pakpattan, is associated with the first Sikh Guru Sri Guru Nanak Dev.

The shrine holds significance in Sikhism and the history of Punjab as it is believed that this is where Guru Nanak Dev ji collected the verses of Baba Farid Ji from Baba Ibrahim Farid Sani which were later incorporated in Sri Guru Granth Sahib by Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji.

Sources reveal that while the tomb and mosque of Baba FatehUllah Shah Noori Chishti, a descendant of Baba Farid, which are within the gurdwara boundary are kept tidy with regular repairs and whitewashing, the gurdwara building has been neglected by the authorities.

The videos of the gurdwara show that its building is being used by villagers as cattle shed and its walls are plastered with cow dung cakes and rooms filled with filth and cattle feed.

Shakkarpur-based businessman and philanthropist Deva Sikandar Singh said he pleaded a number of times with the ETPB and PSGPC to let him undertake the repair/renovation and preservation work of the gurdwara but his pleas were turned down by the ETPB saying that the Board cannot hand over its property to any private individual and will itself undertake the work with the ministry's approval.

But nothing seems to have been done till now.

A large number of religious places belonging to minority Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan remain in dilapidated condition.

The land of some of these historical shrines is even occupied by local residents as the majority of Sikhs and Hindus from Pakistan have migrated to other countries due to continuous discrimination and persecution. (ANI)